Shoe fastening



Patented Oct. 9, 192e. n

UNITED l slii'il-:s PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT C. LEGAT, or NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, AssIGNon To G. E.PRENTICT:

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OFNEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION orCONNECTICUT.

SHOE FASTENING.

Application led May 10,

This invention relates to 'fasteners for shoe straps and the like, andthe principal object of the invention is to provide a twopart fastenerwhich is simple and economical to manufacture, effective and durable ,inuse, comfortable to the wearer'and attractive in appearance.

The improved fastener comprises essentially a buckle member adapted tobe secured upon the free end of a strap or tape and a hook memberconstructed and' arranged to engage behind the buckle and t0 lie underthe buckle when so fastened, so that the two parts may readily beattachedor separated without threading the strap through a buckle orslider and so that the hook member will be substantially concealed fromview beneath the buckle member. When thus assembled the twO-partfasteneris pleasing in appearance and substantially simulates a single elementfastener having a strap threaded throughsitand retained by frictional orinterlocking engagement.

I am aware that two-part fasteners of this general class have heretoforebeen devised in which a ring member. is adapted to slip over and engagebehind a buckle member. It is obvious, however, that the closed rings ofsuch fasteners `must be subao stantially wider than the buckle in orderthat the buckle may be passed through .the ring, and that consequentlythe sides of the ring must necessarily project beyond the sides of thebuckle when the parts arev at- 315 tached. Fasteners of this prior typeare accordingly awkward to attachand separate and are distinctlydispleasing in a pearance; and the ring members are not a apted-forconvenient use with a large-sized buckle.

These and other objects have been overcome by the present invention,recommended embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a ladys im shoe equipped with one formof the improved fastening;

Fig.` 2 is a detail ofthe hook member shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enl no buckle member;

l Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, illustrating astrap section threaded therethrough;

.Fig 5 is a similar arged bottom view of the section showing the '1928.Serial No. 276,650.

stra-p section clamped withinthe buckle and also showing the hook memberinv the assembled fastening;

Fig. 6 is a plan v 'of hook member;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fi iew of a modified form 6,showing a strap end threaded throug antcl1 frictionally retained by saidmember; an

Figs.. 8 and 9 arev top and bottom views, respectively; of an assembledfastening comprising the hook 'of Fig. 2 and an optional form of buckle.p. 0 The fasteninofs herein illustrated are principally adapte'to securethe straps ofa ladies shoe across the instep, but the` same or similarfastening elements may be employed separably t0 connect straps or tapesfor otherv purposes and this invention is not intended to be limited tothe precise construction Or the particular use herein de- 7scribed,except as theV invention may be defined in the appended claims.

p The slipper or pump 10 illustrated in Fi 1 has the usual instep strap11 on one si e of the upper and al 'stub strap 12 on the opposite side.The strap 11 is providedv With a'buckle member 18 which, for somepurposes of the present invention, may be of any desired size or shapeand may be perma- -fnently or removably secured upon the strap 85 in anydesired manner, as lon as the hook member may be fastened behin andbeneath the buckle in the manner hereinafter set forth. The hook memberof Fig. 2 has a curvedv hook portion 14 and an attachment 9o portion 15.secured to the stub strap 12, and preferably consists of a thin piece ofsheet metal suitably stamped out to provide an Open slot 16 behindthehook Hand a closed slot 17 in the attachment portion 15. This 95 typeof hook may be attached to the short strap 12 by passing the end of thestrap through the slot 16 and fastening the returned end to the strapproper by sewing, as best shown in Fig. 5,- or by other securing 'meansvThe particular shape of the hook member is not, however, material tothe invention. Asillustrated in the modification of Fig. 6, for example,the hook 18 and open'slot 19 may be substantially rectangular inoutline; and the attachment portion 2O may have a pair of closed slots21 and 2 2 separated by a cross bar 23. In such .case thel strap 12 maybe frictionally secured to the hook member by threading it upwardlythrough slot 21 over the bar 2id and'down- Wardly through slot 22, asindicated 1n Fig. 7.

The two straps are detachablv fastened together by slipping the bodyofthe strap 11 transversely into the open slot 16 of the hook member, sothat the hook 14 lies upon the outer surface of the strap and ispreferably engaged behind the'buckle and between the strap and anoverhangingv edge of the buckle, as shown in Fig. 5. As shown -in 1, 8and 9, the edge portions of the buckle member overhang the edges of thestrap, vthat is extend beyond the edgesof the strap, to cover theprojecting ,portions of the hood. The parts may be thus easily attachedor separated by one hand, and it is apparent that the connection may beaccom.- plishcd irrespective of the size or shape of -the buckle; forthe hook 14 need only bel large enough conveniently toslide over andembrace the strap 11. One unique and meritorious feature of theassembled fastening is tachment to the strap 11. `The buckle 13`preferably comprises' a face plate which may be'slightly concaved in oneplane and which may be ornamented on its outer surface as desired, anintegral downwardly andl inwardly inclined loop 24 at one end of theface plate defining a slot 25,` and an integral flange 26 returnedbeneath the plate from its opposite end and having an opening 27defining a bridge or cross bar 28. -A transverse retaining lip 29preferably projects upwardly toward the bottom'of the face plate alongthe inner edge of the bridge`28, and the free edge of said lip may beserrated if desired. f

The flange portion 26 of the buckle is so formed as to be resistantlyflexible, whereby its free end may be urged toward or away from the faceplate by pressing or pulling the bridge 28 with the lingers to var thespace betwecn the retaining lip an\ the plate. To attach the buckle tothe strap 11, the end of the strap is threaded through the slot 25 andthe opening 27 while the lip 29 is spaced appreciably from the faceplate f as shown in Fig. 4; and the strap is then The optional type ofbuckle shown in Figs.`

8 and 9 consists of a metal disc 30 which may be flat orconca'vo-convexas desired,

I and which has a pair of spaced parallelslots 31, 32 separated by acrossbar 33."1`he buckle is frictionally attached to the strap 11 bythreading the end of the strap upwardly through slot 31, over lthe -bar33 and downwardly through slot 32. The hook member has the hook portion14 and attachmentportion 15 and is fastened to the strap 12, as before.1When the parts' are connected as indicated in Fig. 9, it will be`observed that the hook is detachablyfsecured to the strap 11 and isentirely concealed beneath the buckle 30.

, A two-part fastening constructed in any of the forms above recommendedis simple and inexpensive to manufacture; it furnishes a secureattachment, which is readily assembled and separated, for a variety ofarticles; and it is pleasing vin appearance and lends itself toattractive ornamentation without sacrifice of operative efficiency.

I claim:

1. A fastening of the class described comprising a buckle member adaptedto be attaehed to l a strap, and a yhook member adapted to be attachedto another strap, the hook member having a hook portion hooking edgewiseover the first strap and having a slot behind the hook portion thereofadapted to receive the second strap, so that the two straps areconnected by engaging the hook portion behind and beneath the buckle.

2. A fastening of the class described/comprising a buckle member adaptedto be attached to ,astrap, anda hook member having a hook portionhooking edgewise over said strap and having a slot behind the hookportion thereof adapted to receive the second strap, so that the two,straps are connected by engaging the hook portion behind and lbeneaththe buckle member, the longitudinal and transverse dimensionsogf thehook member being less than the 'corresponding'dimensions of the bucklemember and the hook member lying wholly behind pants are so the bucklemember when the fastened together.

3. A fastening of the class described comprising a buckle member adaptedto be attached to a strap with an edge portion of the buckle memberoverhanging an edge of the strap, and a hook member having Aa hookportion hooking edgewise over said strap and having a slot behind thehook portion .thereof adapted to receive another strap, said hookportion engaging behind the buckle member and beneath the overhangingedge thereof detachablytoconnect the two straps.

4. A fastening ofthe class described com prising a buckle member adaptedvto be atvtached to a strap `with an edge portion of the buckle memberoverhanging an edge of the strap, and a hook member having an at'-tachment portion adapted to be connected to another` strap and having ahook portion extending edgewise over the first strap, said hook portionengaging behind the buckle member and beneath the overhanging edgethereof detachably to connect the two straps, the transverse dimensionof the buckle member being greater than any corresponding transversedimension of the hook member when the parts are so fastened together.

5. A fastening 'of the class described comprising a buckle member havinga face plate, a downwardly and inwardly inclined loop at one end of saidplate and an inte-v gral flange returned beneath the plate from itsopposite end, said flange having an opening' therein and Asaid openingand said loop being adapted to receive and frictionally retain a strapbeneath the buckle member with one end of the face plate overlyingtheouter surface of the strap, and a hook member having anattachmentportionadapted to be connected to vanother strap and having a hookportion adapted to receive the first named strap, said hook portionengaging behind the buckl'e member and beneath theoverlying end of theface plate thereof detachably to connect the two straps, the transversedimension of the buckle meinber being greater than any correspondingtransverse dimension ofthe hook member and said opening by pressing thebridge toward the under side of the strap, and a hook member attached toanother strap element and having a slot behind the hook portion thereofadapted to receive the' secon d named stra said hook portion engagingbetween sind lange and said first named strap and being.;` narrower thanthe face plate direct-.ly above it, detachably to fasten the partstogetherwith the hook member con-v cealed beneath the buckle member.

7. A fastening of the class-described, com'- prising a buckle memberadapted to be attached to a'vstrap with the edge portions of the bucklemember overhanging the edges of the strap`r a hook member havin a hook aportion hooking edgewise over said strap, and means for attaching thehook member to -another strap, said hook portion engaging behind thebuckle member and beneath the overhanging edges thereof detachably tocon- 7 neet the two straps together.

Signed by me at New Britain, Conn., this seventh day of May, 1928.

ROBERT C. LEGAT.

